The Path to Power
by GKauthors
Summary: A young teenage girl, Rose moves to a new school. She hopes that by moving no one will find out her secret. In doing so, she meets Michelle. When she figures out about the secret, she learns more about what the secret is, and everything about it. Soon, the two friends start going on assignments. During an assignment something goes horribly wrong. (Written by both owners of account)
1. Prologue

Prologue

Michelle

* * *

"Shut up, Rose!" She had been arguing with me since 5th period, which was an hour ago. We just finished high school and had met at the front doors to walk home together like we normally do.

"Come on Michelle, you know I'm right." She had this smirk on her face that was easily detectable. She knew that I had figured out that she was right, she was just waiting for me to admit it. I wasn't going to give in that easily.

"You know wha-"

My locket vibrated against my neck, cutting off my voice. I normally don't get startled by it anymore, but this time I jumped. When I realized it was the locket, I looked down, to see what it was. When I saw who was calling, I immediately flipped open the locket. I wasn't expecting anything major to be happening. I just thought it would be a regular call. I wasn't expecting a voice recording.

"Guys, we're in trouble. I don't care what you're doing, or where you are, I need you to come here RIGHT THIS INST-!" She said those words so forcefully, I was confused to hear her stop all of the sudden. Then, I heard someone else's voice; a man's voice. He didn't sound like anyone I knew.

"Yes," He spoke slowly and quietly. He sounded very intimidating. "Come here right this instant, they need you. You have until 5:00 to get here, otherwise your precious little friends will have their screams be the last thing they hear. You better hurry, time is ticking…Tick… Tock."

Before the call ended, I heard the muffled screams of my friends, as if they had been gagged. Then I heard two voices in particular that made my heart stop. They were yelling at the top of their lungs, then I heard two thumps. It took me a minute to realize that was them. The man who was talking had knocked them out. The last thing I heard was the man laughing maniacally, then the call ended. I was too stunned to move, so I just stood there staring at the locket. When I finally looked up, I saw that Rose also had her locket in her hand. She was scared too. I had been so focused on the recording, I forgot she was there. When she looked up at me, I realized she had got the same call. When we realized who the two voices were, we were clearly thinking the same thing. Rose had covered her mouth with her hand, and her eyes were watering. It seemed like she was trying not to cry.

"Oh my gosh…that was-" She whimpered.

"Yeah, I know. It will be okay, we'll save them. I promise you." I assured her, although it felt like I was mostly assuring myself. I had no idea how we were going to save them or anyone at the academy, much less figure out and defeat whoever did this. She wiped her eyes and stopped crying.

"Okay, then let's go! We only have twenty minutes." I glanced at my locket. She was right; it was 4:40 on the nose. I lowered my voice in case somebody was nearby.

"Use your super speed, it will get us there much faster." "C'mon Michelle, you know I haven't mastered that yet. I can only do it for a little bit, otherwise I get insanely tired and that's not going to help either of us when we get there." "Ok, fine. Grab my hand; I'll teleport us." Ugh, I hate doing this." She reluctantly grabbed my hand and we disappeared.


	2. The New Beginning

1: The New Beginning

Rose

It was the first day of 6th grade. I was new to the school, and didn't know anyone. I chose United Evergreen Middle School, because no one there knew my secret, my true identity. I didn't want to make the same mistake as I did at the last school. It was a nice school compared to the rest I had been to. The first thing I saw when I walked in was the stained glass window straight in front of me. The pattern seemed to be an abstract circle with warm colors. To my right was the front office, attendance office, and budget office. Hopefully I never had to go to any of them. The less people I knew and talked to, the less chance I would have of someone finding out. To the left was the cafeteria. It seemed small but maybe it was just my angle. I overheard someone say that the list of student's homerooms were in the cafeteria, so I walked in to see if my name was there. Inside on the left side was a stage, which seems like it would be for a talent show later on in the year. (Boy, if only I could show people what I could do…) As I kept walking, I saw a Subway sign, which means, I can eat all the Subway I want. Next to the sign, there were three lists taped to a brick wall. I found the sixth grade list and started looking for my homeroom class. After about five minutes of people getting in my way and making losing track of where I was, I finally found my classroom number and went back out to the hallway. I walked up to the stained glass window and turned right. I went down the stairs to the sixth grade hall. I had picked up a map of the school at the orientation a few days before, and studied it so much, I practically memorized it in my mind. It's a lot different trying to memorize a map, than an actual place. Just my luck, all of my classes had to be at the very end of the hallway. There was a long wall of light blue lockers in between classrooms on the right hand side. On the left was a couple of posters and some artwork that must have been left there from last year. The halls were crowded with sixth graders reuniting with their friends after a long summer. When I walked into my classroom, I chose a seat at the back of the class and sat down. I sat alone quietly, feeling awkward, as I took out a Captain America comic book. I had been thinking about if I made the right choice, when someone walked over to me. He was pretty cute, which made me really nervous. He had bright blue eyes and dirty blonde hair that was short on the sides and spiked up at the top. He was wearing a light blue dress shirt and black slacks. "Is anyone sitting here?" He pointed to the seat next to me. I shyly shook my head. He sat down and started eyeing the comic book. "You like Captain America too?" I nodded. "You must be new." He said. "I'm Gabriel, but you can call me Gabe." "I'm Rose." I said quietly, but loud enough for him to hear. "GABE!" I heard a voice say his name from across the class. She was tall, and had , with bright red highlights tied back in a ponytail. She had hazel eyes, but you could just barely see the light green. I could see it because I'm very observant. If you weren't, you probably would have no idea there was green. She was wearing a dark blue shirt that had the Ravenclaw motto from Harry Potter and her black sweatpants had Ravenclaw written in light blue down the side of her right leg. She was loud without really trying. I could tell she hadn't yelled Gabe's name, but the way her voice projected, made it sound like she did. "Leave the poor girl alone, you're bothering her." Gabe stood up. "I'll see you around." He said before walking away. The other girl walked over to me and sat down.


	3. Ugh, School Drama

2: Ugh, School Drama

Michelle

She seemed shy. She had a dark brown to blonde ombre up in a ponytail, blue eyes, and tan skin. She had a mint colored letterman's jacket, with a lavender tank top. She had dark blue skinny jeans and baby blue high tops. I knew when Gabe walked over to her, the outcome would be horrible. I stopped him before it got too far. I sat down next to her after he left. "Sorry about him, he's a nightmare." She mumbled something quietly, but I couldn't understand her, so I continued. "I'm Michelle, it's nice to meet you." "I'm Rose." She said a little bit louder. I glanced back at my friends. They were giggling, and beckoning me over. "I have to go." I told Rose. "If you need anything, let me know." She nodded. I got up, and marched over to my friends. " What is so funny?!" I demanded. "You talked to the new girl!" Scoffed Brooke in her usual snotty tone. She had wavy brown hair, blue eyes, and light skin. She had been my friend since 4th grade, but lately, she had been acting like a jerk. It was hard to still hang out with her. But I had a reputation to keep up. The popular people tended to stick together, and since the only reason I _was_ popular was because of Brooke, I couldn't leave her. I'd have no friends. "So what, if I talked to the new girl!?" I snapped back at her, putting air quotes around "new girl". She had no right to talk about people like that. Before Brooke could retaliate, our teacher walked in. She was about the same height as the students and I could tell her personality was way different than most people. She seemed very humble and polite; definitely different than other people nowadays. She had dark skin and platinum hair, tied up. She was wearing a shirt with multicolored sunglasses as a design. She had a beach designed purse, with different colored flip flops sewed on. On the flip flops were names of different beaches in Florida. She must have had that purse custom made. "Good morning class!" She said in a high pitched voice. "I'm Mrs. Winefeld, and I'm going to be your teacher this year!" She said this in a voice that you would have if you were drunk. Her words were slurred, and she sounded way too happy. I've never heard of this teacher. Even though it was my 1st year in middle school, I knew some older kids. They always informed me about middle school, trying to prepare me. None of them ever mentioned any teacher named Mrs. Winefeld. I wondered if she was a new teacher this year. Usually nobody knows about new teachers until they show up on the first day. Although, I could tell there was something different about this teacher, I just couldn't state what. I knew something was wrong when I noticed her water bottle didn't have water; it had wine.


	4. Unmask The Past

3: Unmask the Past

Rose

I noticed that the new teacher had a particular interest in watching me. She was always walking by me, more than the rest of the students. I had a feeling I knew her from somewhere, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it. "I'm going to assign you guys seats in pairs of 2." Mrs. Winefeld announced. "Great," I muttered. I was probably going to get stuck next to some kid who wants to know too much. Or maybe an ugly guy constantly trying to flirt with everyone. She called off a few names, none I particularly cared about, until she got to my name. "Rose and Michelle? This desk here, next to me please." I started moving towards the back of the class. Of course I was in the back, all teachers put the shy, quiet people in the back. At least, what seems like the shy, quiet people. Just then, I heard Gabe's name. He sat in front of us next to this guy named Kaz. Kaz had a plain black snapback with the blue brim facing backwards over his short, light brown hair. He was wearing a Golden State jersey shirt and jeans. His skin was kind of pale and when he started talking to Gabe, I noticed that he had a slight Australian accent. "So, where are you from?" I hadn't even noticed that Michelle sat down. "Umm….Oklahoma." I stammered. I didn't expect anyone to ask that question. "Really? I've never been there." It seemed like Michelle wanted to start a conversation. People don't usually ask these kinds of questions unless they want to talk to you or learn more about you. "I always thought it would be cool." She sounded envious. I guessed that she didn't really like it here, "It's not much, just about the same as it is here." I said. It was the truth. I had only been there a couple of times, but just for assignments. Never to live there. Michelle nodded. "How long have you lived here?" I cursed under my breath. I wasn't expecting to be asked so many questions. Apparently she is one of those people who wants to know too much. "Uhhh….around 2 years, but can we not talk about personal stuff?" I didn't mean to be rude about it but I couldn't keep lying to her. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." She seemed surprised by my sudden change of attitude. "It's fine, I just don't really like talking about my past." I noticed that Michelle kept glancing in front of her to where Kaz was. "Why do you keep looking forward?" Michelle instantly turned her head towards me with a startled look on her face. "Oh. Uhh...nothing!" She looked flustered. I knew what she was thinking, it was pretty obvious. "Hold on, do you like Kaz?"


	5. My Secret

4: My Secret

Michelle

She knows! What do I do? My heart skipped what felt like 50 beats. I'm pretty sure that the next class over could hear my heart thumping. "You so do!" She whispered to me so only I could hear. "What are you talking about?" I couldn't even convince _myself_. I could feel my face grow hot, and turn as red as a strawberry. I looked down so she couldn't see how embarrassed I was. I'd had a crush on Kaz since the 2nd grade. We had been in the same class every single year since then. None of my friends knew because Kaz wasn't exactly the most popular kid we knew. All my friends think that if someone isn't popular, they aren't cool. I already knew this wasn't true. Kaz was a pretty cool guy, but if they found out I liked him, they would definitely tell him and make fun of me for years. I could not deal with that. Kaz and I had ended up becoming friends, when we sat next to each other in one of our classes a few years back, but we weren't as close as I'd like to be. He doesn't really talk to me anymore, since there isn't a reason. In elementary, we often helped each other with work if needed. Now, he only talks to his guy friends. I figured that if I could try to talk to him, we would become closer, but I could never gather enough courage to go up to him. "Come on, you can tell me. I have nobody to tell anyway." Rose looked down and I could tell she was upset. I felt bad for her, considering I just found out that she had moved here and didn't know anybody. " Fine, I might have a small crush on Kaz…" She figured it out anyway, there was no point in keeping it a secret. "Really? I had no clue…" She had a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Is that sarcasm I hear?" I was shocked, considering how shy she was a few minutes ago. " Maybe…" She had a slight grin on her face. I pretended to be offended. I placed my hand on my chest and gasped. We both laughed. Mrs. Winefeld walked up to us. "Please quiet down." Our faces grew red. Mrs. Winefeld continued teaching the class about herself and the class rules but neither one of us listened, we were too busy talking. The more we talked, the more comfortable she seemed to be. "You can sit with me at lunch if you want to." I offered. I wanted to give her the chance to make new friends. "Sure!" She seemed happy that she would have someone to hang out with. That's when I knew, we would become best friends.


	6. More Secrets

5: More Secrets?

Rose

After first period, Mrs. Winefeld stopped me. Everyone rushed out of the classroom to get to their next class. "I will see you at lunch." Michelle told me. After everybody left, Mrs. Winefeld looked at me curiously. "Do you know who I am?" "I-I'm sorry, what?" I stuttered. "Do you know me?" She was very persistent. "Um, ya...you're Mrs. Winefeld, my science teacher." I wanted to say she was just joking around but considering her tone of voice and stern look, I knew she wasn't. "Wow, then this disguise is better than I thought…" Suddenly her voice changed to a slightly deeper, more mature and realistic voice. "It's me, Melissa." "Missy? Wow, the academy did a good job, I didn't even recognize you. What are you doing here? And how did you change your voice?" I was shocked that she was here. She knew I was changing schools, which I had done several times before. There wasn't really a point to be here. Unless someone… She interrupted my thoughts. "Irrelevant. Do you know why I sat you next to Michelle?" "Clearly not because we're quiet and efficient." She laughed at my statement. "True, that's going to get on my nerves, but didn't you notice anything different about her?" I thought about it for a moment. She did actually seem different than the other kids, but I didn't know why. "I guess, but I just thought it was her personality." She muttered to herself, but I managed to make out a few words; "Not gotten it...doesn't know…" "What?" I was so confused I wasn't sure if I heard her correctly. "Also irrelevant. I put you next to her so you could keep an eye on her." "Wait, why?" As soon as I asked, it hit me like being slapped in the face. My eyes widened. "Does she-?!" "Yes, now shush, there's security cameras. Now hurry to your next class before the bell rings, I'll let your next teacher know that it was my fault if you're late." As I scurried to my next class I wondered how long I would have to keep this from Michelle.


	7. The Locket

6: The Locket

Michelle

I was beginning to wonder where Rose was, when she practically burst through the door to the lunchroom. I motioned for her, hoping she would notice, and come sit over by me and my group of friends. "OMG! Michelle, you need to stop talking to that new girl." Brooke scoffed at me. I was shocked that she was still hung up on this. It had been days, nearly weeks, since Rose was the "new girl" in school. " Why? What is so bad about Rose that you can't stand?" I shot back at her. "Her name, for starters." I figured she would say something like that. "I mean, like, who names their child Rose? That's the name of a flower. Besides, roses are SO last season." "Leave her alone, Brooke. Have you even talked to her?" Her face showed that she was stunned by my standing up for Rose. She didn't reply. "That's what I thought." I turned away from her. Just then, Rose came and sat down, with her Subway sandwich. "Sorry that took so long, I forgot something important in my locker." "No worries, Rose." She looked relieved that I wasn't upset. "So what was so important that you had to get from your locker?" She seemed nervous for a quick moment. "Oh, umm… I left my lucky locket. My father gave it to me, before uh… you know, never mind." I hadn't even noticed that she was wearing a locket. The locket was oval shaped and the color was a light shade of orange that seemed to be fading into yellow. In the middle of the locket was a design that kind of looked like an upside down cross. In the center, where the lines crossed, there was a topaz stone. It looked really cool. I looked over at my friends, whose jaws practically dropped at that last comment. She had never really mentioned her family. "Before what, Rose?" Brooke asked. She was suspicious. I wasn't surprised by this. "Well, before…. he died…" I instantly felt bad for her. "Oh my gosh Rose! I'm so sorry, I had no idea!" She seemed upset. "It's ok. I don't really like to talk about it." Her eyes began to water. "I need a minute. I'll be right back." She got up and started fast walking, practically jogging, to the bathroom.


	8. Anthony

7: Anthony

Rose

I jogged to the bathroom, made sure that nobody was in the stalls and took my locket from my neck. I opened the locket and said "Call Anthony." My locket has a facetime and a voice command feature which is very convenient. It helps to communicate with my friends at the academy. Plus, instead of having to click on a bunch of buttons, you can just say what you want the locket to do. I'd had my locket for a long time but I still wasn't sure of all it's commands. After a few seconds he answered on his watch. "Hey, what's wrong?" Anthony is kind of like me. He has the same secret that I do. Each person at the academy has a locket or a watch. Anthony had a brown watch with a gold strap with the same design as my locket. The stone in the middle was gray. He was wearing a red Big Bang Theory t-shirt that says "Bazinga" on the front side with a black jacket and jeans. He was tall, with blonde hair, short on the sides, but longer on the top, and he had bright green eyes. I started to explain what happened. "I don't know what to do. My new friends are asking lots of questions. They were asking about my locket. One of my friends almost figured out my secret, twice." He was shocked. "What have you told them?" "I had to lie to them. I said the locket was from my father, and when they ask anything about my past I change the subject, or ignore the question." Anthony knew that I hated lying, but I had no choice if I wanted to keep everyone at the academy safe. "Well, I can come to the school, so you don't have to spend all of your time with them and have a higher chance of them figuring it out." Anthony suggested. "That's a good idea. But there is one thing I probably should tell you. One of my friends, Michelle…" I hesitated. "What about her?" Anthony asked. "She's...like us" Through the locket I saw Anthony's jaw drop. "But she doesn't know it yet, so you'll have to keep your mouth shut until she figures it out herself." I told him. "..Ok...well, what's the name of the school?" "It's United Evergreen. How long until you enroll yourself here?" "I will be there Monday morning." "Ok, thanks Anthony. See you Monday." "Later." I closed my locket and walked out of the bathroom back to my friends. When I got back, Michelle looked furious. "What's the matter, Michelle?" I asked, even though I didn't really want to know. "Nevermind that, let's go outside, Rose." "Okay." She practically stormed out of the lunchroom. I was determined to figure out why she was so upset. We sat down on some bleachers, and then I asked, "So, what's wrong?" "Nothing." I could tell she was lying. "Why don't you tell me the _truth_? What's really going on?"


	9. My House

8: My House

Michelle

Did she just...accuse me of lying? Man, I did not see that coming. Well, to be fair I was kind of lying. Key words: _Kind of_. "I'm waiting…" She was obviously the impatient type. "Fine…I'll tell you. Brooke and I..." I started to hesitate, I didn't want to tell her what really happened, I was scared that what Brooke said would hurt her feelings. "Brooke and I…what?" She glared at me, and I continued. "Well, Brooke and I...got into a huge fight while you were in the bathroom." I told her. "What about?" Rose looked appalled. "I'd understand if you didn't want to tell me." I mumbled two words. "What?" She clearly didn't understand. "About...you." I muttered a little louder. "Well, what happened?" She asked. "Honestly… I think that Brooke is jealous of you." I couldn't tell her exactly what she said, I knew Rose would be hurt, but I had to say something to draw her attention away from the matter. She looked shocked beyond belief. "Brooke? Jealous? Of me? Does she even know me?" "She'd have to, to be jealous of you." "Well, we should give her a reason to be jealous…" I noticed Rose had this evil grin. I decided to join her with this grinning and whatnot. We heard the lunch bell, and saw the rest of the kids head inside. We did the same. We only had three more classes until the weekend. "Hey, maybe we can hang out after school!" Rose exclaimed. "That's a good idea!" I agreed. I had nothing better to do that weekend, why not? As we walked to our humanities class, we discussed where we were going to hang out. We decided to go to my house, and have a sleepover. After school, we met near the back doors where we would normally have lunch. We walked to my bus, and Rose followed me to my normal seat. Since I had the very first stop, we were towards the front. When the bus came to my stop, we got off and walked to my house, which was conveniently very close. I walked inside "Hi, Mom! I invited my friend Rose over for the weekend, is that okay?" "Sure, we're not doing anything." She replied. My mom is a shorter woman, only 5'4" with long, dark brown, straight hair and green eyes. When I first walked in she was wearing jeans and a black polo shirt from her work. She was starting to cook dinner. I invited Rose inside and introduced her to my mom. "Mom, this is Rose. Rose, this is my mom, Hazel." I don't know why I decided to be formal, but it sounded good so I stuck with it. They shook hands, then I led Rose to my room.


	10. The Truth Is Revealed

9: The Truth is Revealed

Rose

On Monday morning, I waited in the front of the school for Anthony to show. It didn't take long before I saw his parents car pull up. When he got out, I went up to him. "Dude, how did you get your parents to let you come?" He looked at me like I just asked the stupidest question ever. "My parents work at the academy. Didn't you know that?" "Well, apparently not!" I tried to remember if he actually had told me his parents worked there. "What are their names again?" I asked him. "Jonathan and Claire." I thought for a minute. "Oh yeah, I remember now!" Anthony and I started walking in the school. I decided to give him a tour since we were early. We first went to the office where he got his schedule. He had almost all the same classes as me, as planned. The rest were with Michelle, so when I couldn't keep an eye on her, he could. I showed him where our first period class is. I introduced him to Mrs. Winefeld, and told her I was going to show him around. As we walked out to the hallway, I whispered to where only Anthony could hear, " That's Missy, your aunt." "Really?" He looked stunned. "Yeah, shocking right? I didn't recognize her either." After I showed him around the school, we walked back to Mrs. Winefeld's class. When we got back in the class she told him where to sit, which was to the right of me, then walked out of the room, which I'm assuming was to get her teacher plans. Michelle saw that Anthony was sitting by me, and asked, "So...you going to introduce me to your friend?" I forgot that they needed to be introduced. "Oh, this is Anthony, he's one of my friends from my old school. Anthony, this is Michelle." He gave me a questioning look which I immediately understood. I nodded slowly so Michelle wouldn't notice. They shook hands. After a while we all started talking. I asked Anthony and Michelle if they wanted to come over after school. They both agreed and we decided to go to Dutch Bros. and then my house. Then Missy walked in, as Mrs. Winefeld. I could tell Anthony still wasn't used to the idea that his aunt was his undercover science teacher. He still looked shocked. Mrs. Winefeld told us to take our seats and class began. We started learning about ecosystems, which of course, I already knew. I was helping out Anthony and Michelle for most of the class. After school, Michelle and Anthony met me at the front of the school, then we walked to Dutch Bros. Michelle got a Dutch Freeze, Anthony got a Caramelizer, and I got a Strawberry Vanilla Italian Soda. We walked to my house, and when we got there, I told them my mom wasn't home, so we basically had some free time for a while. I gave Michelle the tour. Anthony had been to my house before, so he already new where everything was. There was one door she didn't show me, I just figured it wasn't important, so I didn't say anything. I showed her my bedroom last, so we could just hang out in there afterwards. We were sitting down, listening to Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars, when we started singing the lyrics at the same exact time. "Stop! Wait a minute!" We started laughing. "Omg, we are so in sync!" Michelle declared. "Yes!" Anthony and I answered at the same time. Michelle said "We should so be recording at a studio!" "Dude.." Anthony said. "Tri-five!" I yelled. As soon as we did, we randomly appeared at a recording studio. Anthony and I looked at each other, and that's when Michelle discovered her secret.


	11. Teleportation

10: Teleportation?!

Michelle

I looked around. "What the flip dip just happened?" I didn't realize I blurted that out. "Oh good! I can finally tell you now!" Rose exclaimed. "Tell me what?" I was so confused. I had no idea what was going on, since we were in front of a recording studio, when not even 2 minutes ago, we were at Rose's house. "We'll explain on the way back to Rose's house." Anthony stated. We started walking. "Ok, so when I started going to school here, it was because people figured out my secret." Rose explained. "What secret?" I practically interrupted her. "Well, all three of us have it." She continued. "We have bionic abilities. You apparently have teleportation, Anthony has time manipulation, and I have invisibility and telekinesis." "Prove it." She looked around, and made sure nobody was looking. She focused, and she took my Dutch Freeze, straight from my hand without even touching it. I was too stunned to even speak. Then, she turned invisible. The only reason I knew where she was, was because my cup was still in her hand. When she became visible, she gave me my cup back, then Anthony hesitated. "I don't really know what I'm doing, but here goes." Next thing I knew, he froze time. The only reason I knew this was because one second I had my cup, the next it was in Anthony's hand, but he didn't even come near me. "Believe us now?" Anthony smirked. He was being a smart alec, I could tell. "Wait, if I have teleportation, then can't I just teleport us to Rose's?" I did not want to walk _all the way_ back, especially considering we had no idea where we were. "I don't know, _can you_?" I sensed Anthony's challenge. "Challenge accepted!" I practically yelled at him. I focused, and grabbed both Rose and Anthony by the arm. The next thing I knew, we were back at Rose's house. "Come on! Let's go to the academy!" She said. "Wait, what academy?" I asked while we were walking. "Samoa." Rose told me simply. "You mean like, the country?" Anthony smacked his forehead. "Ugh, they always say that. It means Society for the Awareness of Maleficent Offenders Academy. Therefore, spelling S.A.M.O.A. This is why we just call it The Academy, it's so much easier." "So, not like the country?" I asked. "No, when someone asks what S.A.M.O.A is, we just tell them we're talking about the Girl Scout Cookies called Samoas." He explained. "Also, the way to get to the academy… is in my basement." Rose told me when I was obviously confused as to why we weren't leaving her house. "Is it in that _one_ door that you didn't show me?" "Yeah…" She grinned sheepishly. "Oh my…" It was my turn to smack my hand on my forehead. "Here is the door. When we go in, we need to tell Missy." Rose told Anthony, and he nodded. "Who's Missy?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know quite yet. Anthony grabbed my arm. "We need to go, come on!"


	12. The Academy

11: The Academy

Rose

When we walked inside, we walked down a long set of stairs. When we got down that long set of stairs, the first thing you'd see is a _humongous_ room with a bunch of equipment. There were tons of people who seemed to be my age. Each of the students had a different color on their locket, (or watch, depending on their preference) representing their level of mastery on their powers. With each new level, you get a new power. The order is, brown, gray, white, yellow, orange, green, blue, red, purple, black, bronze, silver, and finally, gold. I was the fourth level, so I was a yellow. Since I'd been yellow for a while, my locket has begun to fade to an orange color, meaning that I'm close to leveling up to five. Anthony's watch was brown, but it was beginning to fade into gray, which means he was almost a level two. Michelle had not gotten hers yet because she was new, but Missy had one ready for her. It would be a brown locket with a gray stone. All of the lockets and watches had the same symbol: the upside down cross, with the stone in the middle that would represent your next color. I started explaining this to her as we walked around the academy. Just as I finished explaining the locket, I got a call. "This is a perfect example of how the locket works." I looked to see who was calling and saw that it was Missy. I opened the locket. "Hi Missy!" I said. I noticed that she was still in her teacher outfit. She must've just got back from planning her next lesson. "Hey Rose. Hey Anthony. Did you guys bring Michelle?" She asked us. "Yes, she's right here." I started turning the locket towards Michelle but Missy stopped me. "No, It will be easier to talk to her in person. You guys can bring her to the training center and I will finish touring her." "Ok, we'll be down in a minute." Anthony told her. The call ended.I shut my locket and told Michelle to come with me. We walked towards the training center, but before we got there Anthony paused. "I'm just gonna wait out here, Rose. I'm still not used to the fact that my aunt is our teacher." "Alright, see you in a few." I walked Michelle inside. Missy was conversing with one of the higher level students. When Missy saw Michelle and I, she started walking over to meet us. "Mrs. Winefeld?" I heard Michelle ask. Missy glanced at the mirror on the side of the room. "Oh, ya. I forgot I was still wearing this." She took off her wig and pulled off her face mask. I was used to this routine since she usually had a disguise on in public, but when I first saw her do this I had the same reaction as Michelle. Michelle's face was priceless though. She looked almost disgusted. "What?" Missy asked. "You've never seen someone take off a face mask before?" I figured she was too stunned to reply since she didn't say anything. "Well, I'll leave you guys alone to talk. Good luck Michelle!" I smiled to her and turned around and walked outside to where Anthony was waiting.


	13. Power Depletion

12: Power Depletion

Michelle

After Rose left I turned to Mrs. Winefeld. "So, you're not a teacher?" Mrs. Winefeld chuckled. She seemed amused by the question. "Well, not necessarily. I'm not a real school teacher, but I'm kind of like a teacher here." "What do you do?" I asked. "Well, it's easier to show you." We started walking around the academy, and eventually, we ended up in a large room with several students lockets and watches hanging on hooks, based on color. Lined up on the sides of the wall were several chairs. It seemed like an auditorium, except for the center of the room was empty. Missy pulled out a pocket watch. It had the same symbols as Rose's locket and Anthony's watch. She was explaining how leaders get pocket watches, because it is a combination of both lockets and watches, like what the students have. She showed me how everything was gold on hers, whereas on the students, it's different colors. "The reason mine is all gold, is because I've already completed all of my training. The students, on the other hand, have not completed training, which is why their watches and necklaces are different colors. When they get closer to their next color level, their lockets or watches fade into the next color." She was explaining to me. The only thing I didn't understand, is how they _knew_ I was bionic. She tried to continue, but I interrupted her. "So, what I want to know is, how did you know I was bionic before I did?" She looked at me like I had just asked the most ridiculous question in the world. "What, Rose didn't tell you? Well, I have the bionic ability to tell who is bionic, whether they know it or not. But… you can not tell Rose this…" I could feel my jaw drop. I was shocked that she wanted me to keep a secret from Rose. I couldn't keep a secret if my life depended on it. Especially from my best friend. You would think Missy would know that since she could already tell I was bionic. "She has the same ability, but she doesn't know it yet. Every time you start to level up, you unlock a new ability, but it's hidden. You don't necessarily notice it until you are really close to leveling up." I didn't quite understand what she was saying. Perhaps my brain already had so much information that I couldn't retain anymore. Or maybe Missy just said it weird. Either way, I had to ask about it. "Wait, so if she has it, why can't I tell her?" She didn't seem to understand the question, so I reworded it. "Why can't I tell her that she has that power?" She answered as if she'd witnessed the consequences before. "If someone finds out from another person, it affects their powers and how they develop. It could make them lose that power, or even a different power that had developed normally. If it doesn't make them lose the power, then it might not be as strong as it could be, or it could backfire when they try to use it. Trust me, you do not want your powers backfiring, it screws everything up." "So, what you're saying is that if I tell Rose she has this power, then it could drain the source altogether?"


	14. Discovering a Power

13: Discovering a Power

Rose

* * *

When I got to Anthony, he was sitting down, with his hand on his forehead. He looked nauseous. Feeling concerned, I asked if he was okay. "Yeah, I just have a headache." He told me. I glanced at his watch. Anthony hasn't known about his abilities for that long, so he hasn't quite unlocked a new power yet. He has been pretty close for a while. I had experienced a few new abilities and I knew that when you are about to get them, it sucks. You get a huge headache, and you feel like you're going to throw up. Luckily, it only lasts for a couple days. Once you figure out that you have a new power and what it is, it goes away pretty quickly. I wanted to tell Anthony that it was only temporary and would go away when he figures out his power but I knew what the consequences would be if I did. I couldn't do that to him. "I'm sorry, I hope it goes away soon." I knew it would. "So, should we wait here for Michelle, or just wander around?" He asked me. "I'm gonna wait, I don't want to ditch my best friend." "Wow, I'm not your best friend? I see how it is!" He glared at me accusingly, then smiled when I started laughing. "Shut up, Anthony!" I said, trying to keep a straight face. "Besides, we would just be walking around the track by the office. There's really no point in leaving." He thought about it for a few, then he stood up. "I guess it couldn't hurt." I grinned. "Ok, let's talk abo-" "Hold on, before you continue, please don't say, 'let's talk about our feelings' or something like that." I laughed. "No, I was gonna say, let's talk about assignments." He sighed with relief. "Good, because if you said that, I was going to change my mind about walking around." Just then, Michelle walked out from Missy's office. "I'm back!" She announced in a dramatic tone. "I have to get a locket now, I'm assuming that's where you got yours from, not your father?" She asked. I acted innocent. "Maybe…I'm sorry, I had to lie. If I didn't, it would have gotten me in trouble." She looked kind of skeptical, so I just shrugged, not knowing what else to do. She got over it quickly. "Well, is it going to be the same color as yours?" "No, the chain will be gold, the locket itself will be brown, then the jewel in the middle of the locket will be gray." She gazed like she was trying to imagine it. "That's kind of an odd combination of colors, isn't it?" "Well yeah, but the color combinations get better, as you have the higher level of training. Missy didn't tell you this?" "No, she said she had an other things she needed to do, so she just said you guys would tell me everything." Michelle explained. "Ok, well I guess we should get you your new locket!" I said excitedly. She and I were jumping and squealing with excitement. "Ugh, girls…" Anthony said in a disgusted tone. We laughed as we all walked to the auditorium to get Michelle her new locket. On the way there, a student came to greet Michelle. She looked so familiar, but I couldn't quite recognize her. "Hi! You must be the new student, Michelle! My name is Sabrina, it's nice to meet you!" She sounded really perky, which I knew was going to bother me. She had never come to talk to me or Anthony before, so I was surprised when she came to talk to Michelle. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she is going to make new friends, but I don't know about this Sabrina chick. There was something off about her. "Nice to meet you too, Sabrina. How long have you been going here?" "I have been going here since 4th grade, and I'm in 6th grade now, so about 2 years." I was stunned she wasn't here since before then. She has been here since I came here. Well, maybe she was here a couple days before me. I didn't know, maybe I was thinking too much into it. Or maybe I wasn't… "Michelle," I interrupted. "Do you want to start training? We have nothing better to do. Plus, I can teach you a few cool tricks I learned while I was training here." Michelle glanced over at Sabrina. "It's fine Michelle, I'll get a chance to talk to you later. I mean, both of us are going to be here a lot." Sabrina smiled at us both. "Ok Rose." I looked at her. "I'm ready."


End file.
